Bamidele, Julius A., Ademolu, Kehinde O., Idowu, Adewumi B., Aladesida, Adeyinka A. and Oladele, Adewumi O.
Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science, Volume 41, Issue 1, February 2018
Published: 21 Feb 2018
The survival of snails has been associated with the microclimate variables of their environment. Therefore, a comparative analysis of the biochemical composition of the haemolymph, mineral and proximate analysis of the flesh of the giant African land snail (Archachatina marginata) obtained from five southwestern states of Nigeria was conducted. Mature snails purchased from notable markets in Ogun, Oyo, Lagos, Osun and Ondo states were dissected. An analysis of the biochemical composition of the haemolymph and proximate composition of the flesh was done using standard methods, while a mineral composition analysis of the flesh and haemolymph was done using a Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer and Flame Photometer. Snails from Oyo state had significantly higher (p<0.05) concentrations of glucose (35.00±0.20), protein (54.15±0.02) and lipid (22.90±0.05) in their haemolymph than those from the other locations. Concentrations of Na+, Ca2+, Cl- and PO42- were observed to be significantly higher (p<0.05) in the haemolymph of the snails than in the flesh. Protein was observed to be higher than other metabolites in both the haemolymph and the flesh of A. marginata collected from the five states. The flesh of snails obtained from Ogun state recorded significantly higher (p<0.05) values of ash (1.73±0.02), crude fibre (1.01±0.01), crude protein (20.22±0.02) and carbohydrate (1.09±0.01) content than those from the other states examined. No significant difference (p>0.05) was observed in the values of Mg2+, PO42- and Cl- across the five states. Although climatic conditions could have influenced some biochemical composition of the snails, the snails collected from the five southwestern states of Nigeria examined were equally nutritious.
ISSN 0128-7702
e-ISSN 2231-8534
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